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A Fox has been back in the garden for a few days. Males are about in the day now, while females are down in their dens, following pairing up in January. This fox drank from next door’s pond before he scent-marked his territory, (which he will have established against other males during January), in our garden and lolloped off to dig around for worms etc. Conditions: bright, dry, cold day. Temperature: Max 4 Min -1 C.

Foxes- Down in Sussex, I’ve been lucky enough to watch a family of Foxes with six cubs (more on those tomorrow)- panting with the heat. With such a big family, they have really needed more than just the parents out catching food, which is predominantly the plentiful Rabbits. As here, Fox parents are often helped to provide food by other family members, including last years’ cubs, not yet mature enough to breed. Conditions: Sunny periods with heavy rain and strong winds due this evening. Temperature: Max 17- Min 11 c.

Fox- our first real covering of snow just brought this Fox through the garden. January is a lively month for Foxes. Last years’ young leave or are chased off the parents territory and mating takes place, with the blood-curdling nighttime calls heralding the process, though in fact they only call about one night in three. There is 50-70% Fox mortality each year though this is not usually due to lack of food- in cities it is estimated that there is 150 times the food required for scavenging foxes. Despite the way it seems, urban foxes are not thought to be on the increase, their maximum population density having been reached around 20 years ago.Conditions: Around an inch of snow last evening and night. Completely still days. Temperature around 1c day and night.